A Clockwork Orange

A vicious 15-year-old droog is the central character of this 1963 classic, a frightening fable about good and evil, and the meaning of human freedom. In Anthony Burgess' nightmare vision of the future, where the criminals take over after dark, the story is told by the central character, Alex, who talks in a brutal invented slang that brilliantly renders his and his friends' social pathology.

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Publisher's Summary

A vicious 15-year-old "droog" is the central character of this 1963 classic. In Anthony Burgess' nightmare vision of the future, where the criminals take over after dark, the story is told by the central character, Alex, who talks in a brutal, invented slang that brilliantly renders his and his friends' social pathology.

A Clockwork Orange is a frightening fable about good and evil, and the meaning of human freedom. When the state undertakes to reform Alex to "redeem" him, the novel asks, "At what cost?"

This edition includes the controversial last chapter not published in the first edition, as well as Burgess' introduction, "A Clockwork Orange Resucked".

On the surface, A Clockwork Orange is a depiction of an apalling young man who commits a variety of violent acts and the government's attempts to redeem him. On a deeper level, it is also a social commentary on youth violence, psychiatry, morality, and other social issues (this is much more apparent in the book than it is in the film). It alternates between being humorous, shocking, and thought-provoking. Overall it is an amazing book, and the narration is phenomenal.

However, this book employs some rather extreme violence, (e.g., the raping of young girls, the beating of an old man) to convey its messages. If you think this might be a problem for you, then you should probably not purchase this audiobook.

Also, the book employs a great deal of slang, called Nadsat. It makes the story a bit difficult to comprehend at first, but you get used to it before long. The narrator also does a wonderful job with it (pausing in all the right places, etc.), and makes it much more comprehensible. I thought it added humor to the story and made it more enjoyable, but other listeners may find it to be overwhelming.

No matter whether you've seen the Stanley Kubrick movie, or read the book - "Clockwork Orange" demands the spoken word, especially all the bits of British accents but also a made-up language and a very neat "voice" for "little Alex" (the Malcolm McDowell character in the iconic picture, bowler hat, eye makeup and stiletto).

This audio book adds-back the last chapter, deleted from the US book and the film. Burgess explains his logic, while admitting the reasons why we may agree with the US editor (I agree with Burgess, myself, but then I'd been utterly unaware of the question).

Burgess personally speaks an introduction, and at the end, reads aloud 3 critical chapters, adding surprising depth to the minor characters even as you can feel his identification with little Alex.
There is substance here, though it works neatly just as "ultra-violence" with minimal human depth.

With the added arc of character, and Burgess reading key bits of little Alex narrating, and even adding some of the capital-R Romantic classical music that's interwoven with ultra-violence in little Alex's soul, "voice" seems the best word for the way Burgess uses linguistic razzle-dazzle to get us all inside little Alex.
A note on "ultra-violence," especially the graphic rapes clearly motivated more by violent hatred than anything like merely erotic desire. The plot and Alex's arc are about free will, good and evil, and may even work as an odd Christian apologetic. The violence is central and deeply thought-out, about as far from gratuitous exploitation as I can imagine.

Still and all, the violence is horrible, terrible and even a bit nauseating - but then that's what makes "evil" a meaninful word, yes?

I read this in high school, and I was initially concerned that the "language" would be difficult to understand in audio form.

No worries! The reader is PERFECT for this book. He reads with a Cockney accent that is very entertaining for this subject matter. The story itself is ultra-violent, the first person account of a violent criminal describing his horrible misdeeds in a colorful slang dialect. The main character refers himself as "your most humble narrator" and to the reader as "oh my brothers", both of which come off perfectly in the Cockney accent of the reader.

Think: Michael Caine relating the events of the movie "Pulp Fiction" in the first person. I loved it.

A warning though: the main character, with whom we are to sympathize, is a despicable character. If you don't like extreme violence, this is not for you. But it's almost a comic-book type of violence (again, think Pulp Fiction) and there are parts that are really laugh-out-loud funny.

Also, if you don't like Cockney accent, you won't like this.

The slang dialect turned out to be no problem at all for me. There are times when you might not get every word, but you get enough to understand what's going on, and after a while you really start to learn the lingo.

From the author's introduction explaining the lack of chapter 21 in the American publication and the film, to the outstanding narration, this is one of the most riveting audio books I have heard. I could not wait to get back to the car to finish, so walked around with the MP3 in my ear to finish it more quickly.
Less bizarre than the classic film, the narration of the book is much more humorous, more thoughtful, and the neologisms are much more prominant and clever.

I'm really resisting the urge to write this entire review using the brilliant slang spoken by the "humble narrator" who tells this wickedly captivating story. If you listen, you'll understand. However, since I've read entries by several reviewers who have already gone there, I will do my best to avoid it.

I watched the movie when I was 12 and have never been able to completely untwist my mind. I read the book years later and found it to be even more fascinating and horrifying than the movie. Now with this audio version I am, once again, overwhelmed - it is truly an inspired work of art. The added bonus of the chapters read by the author at the end...... so freakin cool I can't stand it!

If you are unable to tolerate brutality and violence - even when absolutely essential and appropriate to the story - then steer clear of this. But I dare you to stop listening once you've started - and eventually you will come to understand the deep and powerful messages woven within. Five stars are not enough.

I experienced Stanley Kubrick's film A CLOCKWORK ORANGE as a precocious 12 year old at my big brother's apartment. I never listened to Beethoven the same way again! This novel remains one of my favorites since reading the actual piece of literature as an adult. Burgess creates a colloquial slang for futuristic JD's that just lends itself to being heard. Mr. Hollander's performance was perfectly executed with all of the quasi-Polish slang. I found myself taking notes on particular words. The loss of a "glossary" in this audiobook does not mar the perfection of the production. Lastly, the final chapter -- that was edited out of American editions of the novel and not even mentioned in the Kubrick film -- gives the novel a poignancy and depth that is otherwise lost in ultra-violence and sex. This novel is NOT for that precocious 12 year old who watched the film. It is, however, for readers who want to be transported to a dystopian world where violence and sex have psychological implications far beyond their victims.

Great story. Very engaging to listen to the misdeeds of the main character and the consequences of his actions. But so depressing if you take it to heart - regardless of the final chapter which plops a cherry of hope on the steaming pile of dung that is human nature.

Great narration. And an encore of a small piece of the book at the end - i believe by the writer? Ironically my copy of this audio book had a 'get kids into reading' message on it. I sincerely hope no young children get ahold of this piece.

I loved this book and the movie as well but I found the ending odd. To me if felt like (And this could easily be considered a spoiler so stop reading if you don't want to know a very small portion of the story) the writer was trying to end it with some kind of notion that raping/killing/and stealing was just part of being a teenage. That aside it was a great book.

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